Two-Way SMS Messaging — Staff Guide

Two-Way SMS Messaging — Staff Guide

The SMS feature lets you hold real text-message conversations with leads and customers directly from their record. It is two-way: messages you send go out as normal texts, and when the person texts back, their reply appears in the same conversation automatically. Each customer and lead has its own SMS tab that reads like a chat thread — your messages on one side, theirs on the other.

1. Where to find it

Open any customer or lead record and click the SMS tab. You will see the full conversation history with that person and a box at the bottom to type a new message. Nothing else is needed to start — if the record has a phone number, you can message them.

2. Reading a conversation

• Blue bubbles, right side — messages sent by your team (outbound).
• Grey bubbles, left side — messages received from the customer or lead (inbound).
• Each bubble shows a timestamp, and outbound bubbles also show a send status.
• The thread refreshes on its own every few seconds, so a reply appears without you reloading the page.

3. Sending a message

1. Open the record's SMS tab.
2. Type your message in the box at the bottom.
3. Click Send.
4. Your message appears immediately as a blue bubble. A status of Success means it was accepted for delivery.

Messages are ordinary SMS texts. Keep them concise, and remember the recipient pays no attention to internal formatting — plain, clear sentences work best.

4. Receiving replies

When a customer or lead texts your business number back, their message is matched to their record automatically and appears as a grey bubble in their SMS tab within a few seconds. You do not have to do anything to receive it — no import, no refresh. If you are viewing the tab when a reply lands, it simply shows up.

5. Quick send from a list

From the Leads or Customers list, each row has a Send SMS quick link in its row options. Use it to open a send window for that person without first opening their full record — handy for a fast one-off message. For an actual back-and-forth conversation, work from the record's SMS tab so you can see the full thread.

6. Which number a reply lands on

Incoming texts are matched to a record by phone number. The system compares the last ten digits, so formatting (spaces, dashes, +1) does not matter. Matching is tried in this order:

1. Customer
2. Lead
3. Contact (the reply threads onto that contact's parent customer)
4. Staff

For a reply to land on the right record, that record must have the person's number saved in its phone field. If a text arrives from a number that is not on any record, it is still captured safely but will not appear on a profile — see Section 10.

7. Message templates

If your install has SMS templates set up, you can use them to avoid retyping common messages (appointment reminders, follow-ups, and so on). Templates are managed in the SMS area of Setup and can be selected when composing.

8. Good to know

• A phone number is required. If a record has no number saved, the SMS tab shows a notice and you cannot send until a number is added.
• Conversations are per record. Each customer or lead has its own separate thread; there is no shared inbox view.
• Replies are automatic. You never have to fetch or refresh to receive an incoming text.
• Status matters. An outbound bubble marked with an error rather than Success did not send — check that the number is valid and try again.
• Keep it professional. These are real texts to real people; the same tone and consent rules as any other outreach apply.

9. Administrator setup — inbound webhook (technical)

This section is for whoever configures the SMS gateway, not for everyday use. Staff sending and receiving messages do not need it.

For incoming texts to reach the system, the SMS provider (Twilio) must be told where to deliver them. This is the inbound webhook URL, set on the phone number in the Twilio Console under the number's incoming-message handling.

Webhook URL format:

https://YOURDOMAIN/sms_manage/inbound/twilio

Replace YOURDOMAIN with the actual site domain for this install. For example, a test build would use https://testbuild.example.com/sms_manage/inbound/twilio. The HTTP method must be POST.

Configuration notes:

• Set the webhook on the same number customers actually text. Configuring one number and testing another produces no result.
• If a Messaging Service is attached to the number, it overrides the number's own webhook — set the webhook on the Messaging Service instead.
• The provider's Auth Token stored in the CRM SMS settings is also used to verify that inbound requests genuinely came from the provider. If the token is changed at the provider, it must be updated in the CRM or incoming texts will stop.

Required one-time step — CSRF exclusion. The platform blocks unauthenticated form submissions by default, which would reject the provider's inbound POST before it is processed. The inbound webhook path must be added to the CSRF exclusion list in the application configuration. Without this, inbound texts fail silently — the provider receives them but they never appear in the CRM. This is a server configuration step performed once per install; see the deployment guide for the exact entry.

10. Administrator note — unmatched numbers

A text from a number not found on any record is still stored (nothing is lost) but is filed as unknown and does not surface on a profile. To make such conversations appear, add that phone number to the appropriate customer or lead record. Until a dedicated view exists, unmatched messages are visible only via a direct database query.